So does anyone have any opinions or first hand experience with them? I am about to move out of Dallas, so I am going to have to commute 30 miles to work everyday and I need something that gets better mileage than my SUV. I have been looking at new and used cars, and this seems to be the cheapest for the mileage. My other choices are obviosly the Civic and Corolla, but the Mazda is a lot cheaper used, and I am just going to be piling on the miles.

RWhitney014

08-02-2005, 07:05 PM

I was very close to getting one last week, but I didn't really like it. If you want an SUV that gets great mileage, go for the Honda CR-V. That's what I got instead...drives very well, and I'm at a half-tank of gas after 150 miles.

dolphinfan2k5

08-02-2005, 07:26 PM

You know whats sweet, the RX-8 :drool:

Man gotta love that, and the rotary engine.

Prime Time

08-02-2005, 10:08 PM

The RX8 in Blue is the car I want next...it is so hott.

I have a Mazda 3. They run well and smooth. Gas is very well. I believe just about30 Dollars Fills up my tank. The AC is okay, and the radio system is amazing, but you probably aren't too interested in that. :tongue: I like the car, my cousin even got one after I did. He bought a grey one, and is hooking it up little by litte. He is really enjoying it. If you ave any questions, ask away.

mor911

08-02-2005, 10:12 PM

This cutie I work with drives one. We go to lunch in it every once in a while. I think it's a nice little car.

Seems to have a little more style than the civic... Probly because there is less of them on the road.

EDIT: I added a word to make my craziness readable.... :D

spydertl79

08-03-2005, 12:54 AM

Get a Civic, it may be more expensive but you can get 200k miles out of it.

GreenMonster

08-03-2005, 01:10 AM

Get a Civic, it may be more expensive but you can get 200k miles out of it.

My 2001 Honda Civic HX (better gas than EX) gets almost 40 miles a gallon on the highway. I made it to Biloxi from Atlanta on 1 tank of gas (416miles), 11 gallon tank.

Philter25

08-03-2005, 08:55 AM

So does anyone have any opinions or first hand experience with them? I am about to move out of Dallas, so I am going to have to commute 30 miles to work everyday and I need something that gets better mileage than my SUV. I have been looking at new and used cars, and this seems to be the cheapest for the mileage. My other choices are obviosly the Civic and Corolla, but the Mazda is a lot cheaper used, and I am just going to be piling on the miles.

I test drove a 3. It depends on what you are looking for... the 3 has definately more styling than the Civic and Corolla. I will assume we are not talking about the Civic Si and the regular base Civic. The 3 has a much better suspension and handling package than the Civic and Corolla and I found it to have less road noise when driving on the highway. Durability wise, you are going to be able to put the most miles on the Civic and Corolla over the 3 generally speaking. The Civic and Corolla can go 200k easily. The 3 hasnt been out as long so we dont really know what type of max mileage to expect from it. However this might not be a concern.

Powerwise, the 3 feels to have greater acceleration and does better passing than the Civic and Corolla. The 3s has 160 hp, The base Civic is around 120ish hp, (the Si is 160 and a little more pricey and ugly), Corolla base models are 130ish and I think the XRS makes 170ish but is manual only.

It also depends on if you want a ATX or MTX. If you are going for a manual, the XRS Corolla is the quickest of the group but comes only in a 6 speed.

They are all very comparable and have around the same base price. Right now though, you should be able to get the Mazda the cheapest with all the rebates and the 2006's coming out if you buy a new one.

Just FYI, I test drove a Civic and a Mazda 3 and I ended up buying a Mazda6 which I am in the middle of heavily modding. I wanted a car that handled great, got good mileage, and had a good stock transmission because those are a few things I wasnt planning on upgrading :goof: Im using no forced induction and am making it entirely natural aspiration. Its at 240hp/210TQ and should be up to 250ish by the end of the summer once I put on headers.

If I had to choose between the 3, Civic, and Corolla, for what I like i would take the 3 because of its combination of good power over the base Civic and Corolla and far better handling and superior styling.

UltraDol-Fan

08-03-2005, 10:55 AM

Thanks for all the input guys, I actually took the 3 home last night to drive it around for awhile. The only thing that is wierd about it is the sales guy drove it out of the lot and stalled it, but it is the automatic with the active shift, which lets you manually shift. So I think he just accidentally switched it (he had no idea about the car). I haven't been able to stall it yet, so I guess he was just an idiot. But so far, I love it. It only has the 2.0 (148 hp), but it is still fun to drive.

Philter25

08-03-2005, 11:11 AM

Thanks for all the input guys, I actually took the 3 home last night to drive it around for awhile. The only thing that is wierd about it is the sales guy drove it out of the lot and stalled it, but it is the automatic with the active shift, which lets you manually shift. So I think he just accidentally switched it (he had no idea about the car). I haven't been able to stall it yet, so I guess he was just an idiot. But so far, I love it. It only has the 2.0 (148 hp), but it is still fun to drive.

Check this out.

http://www.mazda3forums.com/

There are a lot of hard core enthusiasts that hang out here. You can find EVERYTHING, even the smallest little tiny weeny beeny piece of info on the car here. I would take a day and read through the forum and see where people have had problems with the car and etc. Read the recalls and TMI problems and see what the latest ECU flash is. Make sure your car is completely updated with everything before you buy it. Also, most of the times from reading through the forums I found out that I know waaaay more about the car than the salesman did.

Example: When I bought my 6, I read through the 6 forums and I noticed that the automatic tranny runs very hot in the 6 and that there was no stock transmission cooler on the 6. There was one on the wagon, but none on the sedan or 5 door. I told the dealer about this and the temperature data for the 5 door 6 and the wagon and I asked him why there was no cooler on the car. He had no idea. Therefore I said due to the temperature data, the corresponding oil temperature generally corresponds to a tranny with a shelf life of 50k miles, which is right when the basic warranty runs out :lol: .... needless to say I had him install a cooler for free because I knew what I was talking about with one of the key flaws of the car.

My point, take a day and read through the threads. The guys on there know everything about the car and they can help you tell you the pros and the cons and anything you might be able to do to get a free dealer option or two. You are spending a nice chunk of change, you better know as much as you can about the car you are buying.

Noodle Arm

08-03-2005, 11:17 AM

Hey Philter...I really like the Mazda 6 and am contemplating getting one. How was the car's performance before you started modding it out?

Pagan

08-03-2005, 11:54 AM

The 6 is a sweet looking ride. Post some pix, Philter! :up:

GreenMonster

08-03-2005, 12:08 PM

I test drove a 3. It depends on what you are looking for... the 3 has definately more styling than the Civic and Corolla. I will assume we are not talking about the Civic Si and the regular base Civic. The 3 has a much better suspension and handling package than the Civic and Corolla and I found it to have less road noise when driving on the highway. Durability wise, you are going to be able to put the most miles on the Civic and Corolla over the 3 generally speaking. The Civic and Corolla can go 200k easily. The 3 hasnt been out as long so we dont really know what type of max mileage to expect from it. However this might not be a concern.

Powerwise, the 3 feels to have greater acceleration and does better passing than the Civic and Corolla. The 3s has 160 hp, The base Civic is around 120ish hp, (the Si is 160 and a little more pricey and ugly), Corolla base models are 130ish and I think the XRS makes 170ish but is manual only.

It also depends on if you want a ATX or MTX. If you are going for a manual, the XRS Corolla is the quickest of the group but comes only in a 6 speed.

They are all very comparable and have around the same base price. Right now though, you should be able to get the Mazda the cheapest with all the rebates and the 2006's coming out if you buy a new one.

Just FYI, I test drove a Civic and a Mazda 3 and I ended up buying a Mazda6 which I am in the middle of heavily modding. I wanted a car that handled great, got good mileage, and had a good stock transmission because those are a few things I wasnt planning on upgrading :goof: Im using no forced induction and am making it entirely natural aspiration. Its at 240hp/210TQ and should be up to 250ish by the end of the summer once I put on headers.

If I had to choose between the 3, Civic, and Corolla, for what I like i would take the 3 because of its combination of good power over the base Civic and Corolla and far better handling and superior styling.

Wow great write up. I would agree most everyting you just said. I like the new 3's and for the money I like them better than Civic and Corolla. The new 6's are sweet, what kind of gas mileage are you getting with it. Also what color did you get some pics, would be sweet.

Prime Time

08-03-2005, 12:10 PM

I always have the shift switch, except I call it Tiptronics(sp?). It is pretty cool when I feel like I want to drive manually. I like that about the Mazda 3, because I don't always wanting to be changing gears, but once in a while, it is pretty cool. :)

Prime Time

08-03-2005, 12:11 PM

Ultra Dol-Fan BTW, what color did you get yours in? What kind? Hatchback or Regular? Post a pic. If you want I'll show you mines :D

UltraDol-Fan

08-03-2005, 12:15 PM

okay, when I get home I will take a pic and upload it. It is the sand color, 4 door sedan

UltraDol-Fan

08-03-2005, 12:16 PM

Also I think Volkswagon calls their set up tiptronic, but I will check. It's going to bug me until I figure it out now.

Philter25

08-03-2005, 02:40 PM

Mazda ATX (or automatic transmission for you non car gurus) is called tiptronic and its actually pretty decent....

Philter25

08-03-2005, 03:25 PM

Here is my cardomain page with a few pics..... I sorely need to update it.

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2049902/1

I also dropped the car with tanabe 210nf springs. The springs keep only increase the stock spring rate by maybe 10% and were designed to be used with the stock shocks. A lot of really low ghetto springs lower the car tooo much and kill the stock suspension. Custom Performance engineering was my company of choice for my aftermarket performance mods. I added a customizer which helps me tune the A/F ratio to get the most power from the car along with a cold air intake. Their headers are in development and once they come out I plan on getting their stainless steel headers and Y-pipe combo and putting that on my car with a catback exhaust. Because I have their customizer, they offer a tune for the car with all their parts. I should be around 250-260 bhp by the end of the summer when they release the headers and y-pipe. I need to update my cardomain page but those pics are the general outside ones.

I also did some simple mods by changing out the ATX shifter and rewiring the tailights so all the lights come on and are brighter. It just makes the car more visible at night and is more of a safety thing.

Im taking the car in a few weeks to be tinted 35% around and then at the end of summer I am seriously considering a valve body upgrade and a new torque converter for the tranny. I drove in a guys car which had these done and the car shifted faster than any other ATX I have been in with the exception of the BMW SMG gearbox. Once I get the car up to 250hp I will need to get the tranny upgrades just so it can handle the additional power. I feel sorry for my engine mounts because they were not designed for the power so i will probably upgrade to urethane mounts so they dont crack. When you put the additional 30-40 hp and torque on this car, its a monster. I havent taken it to the track, but once im done with the car I would imagine it runs low 15s and maybe high 14s in the 1/4 mile depending on how fast the shifts from the upgraded tranny are. 0-60 I do high 6 seconds which is pretty respectable for a 20k sport sedan.

Noodle: Performancewise stock the car is EXCELLENT. The only problem I had was with the tranny oil temperature. With the car idling in neutral for 20 mins with the minimum load on the tranny, it was 180 degrees F.

http://www.finheaven.com/clear.gif

180F is therefore the MINIMUM temp your tranny will be running at... which would never happen unless you put the car in neutral and pushed it around. Average driving temps were recorded at 220F which according to the chart, translates into a tranny lifetime of 20k miles. :lol:

Therefore I slapped a B&M racing cooler on it which you can buy online for 50 bucks and it lowered it to an operating temp of 170ish which is pretty much my idea for my car.

It depends on what 6 you plan on getting. The 2005 6 speed aisian transmission is MUCH better than the 5 speed that I have. If you are in the market for the 6 now, if you plan on buying new, get your hands on a 2005 with the 6 speed ATX in it. That transmission is built like a hoss and is the only thing I wish i had on my car. The stock engine I get roughly 27-28 MPG on it. The 2005 one should get even better because the 6 speed has a lower gear ratio for the cruising gear than the 5 speed. I get better gas mileage than some 4 cyls out there and they dont have 220 hp stock. I would like to see a little more torque from the car in the future.... that would make the car faster off the line. Handlingwise, the car is incredible. I race... a lot and plan on autocrossing my car soon in the future. The 6 can beat anyone on a curved road or track thats in its class. Any idiot can floor their car in a straight line but what separates the men from the boys is how you can actually drive your car. Exit speed is key in turns. In my world there are 2 types of drivers, good drivers and morons. Morons just floor the car and slam on the break and floor the car but never really know the limits of the car. Example is how fast you can go around a corner before the wheels start to slip. Good drivers know at exactly what speed, what gear, and what rpm their wheels start to slip in corners and they know how to drive through corners to have the car exiting the corners faster than anyone else. Numerous times I have seen in an autocross a much cheaper car, like a Honda s2000 or older Civic Si or a 6 TOAST a much more expensive BMW by at least 7 seconds through a course. How is that possible? Its because these cars have a better power/weight ratio and have much better handling and the guy driving the car knows how to maximize his exit speed. Although it might seem you are driving slower on the track because you are not flooring it then slamming on the breaks through the turns, your driving time is a lot faster.... but enough with my ramble and back on topic.

When I test drove the cars, I made sure to ask them to take me to a curvy road where the speed limit is around 45 and I made sure to notify the guy riding along with me that I was going to test the slipping points of the tires and drive the car hard. I had a few salesman gripping the armrest on the doors. :lol:

Anyway, I would reccomend the 6 to anyone looking for a sporty sedan that doesnt have enough cash to drop on a Legacy GT or an Acura TL or a Infinitu G35 or a BMW 330. Those are the only other cars that I would take over the sporty sedan class but they also cost at least 10k more.

The MTX 6 had an excellent gearbox. I had to twist my own arm not to get a MTX because I live and work in DC and traffic here is horrible. My old car was a MTX and I couldnt get out of 2nd gear in traffic and I pretty much had to stretch before and after going anywhere. If you can drive a MTX, test drive a MTX 6 with the sport package. Stock the car is pimp. Suspension wise the car handles great, engine wise the car has great power and good fuel economy, and astheticswise the cars styling is great.

The only thing I didnt like about the cars was the 2004 5 speed ATX because of the temperature... It also has some throttle lag which is just bad computer programming for the tranny. I got the latest flash for the car which was supposed to fix the throttle lag. It eliminated a lot of it, but if you are an anal driver you will notice it when you floor the car.

With that said, the 2005 6 doesnt have any faults at all and if I could do it all over again, I would have waited a few more months and got the 2005.

I bought my 2004 because I received 7k off the invoice price plus another 500 rebate because it was the last on the lot. I got it for 20k out the door so I pretty much robbed the dealership because I knew everything about the car coming in.

If anyone has any questions about cars, drop me a PM or feel free to ask. Im pretty knowledgeable about stuff and am much more technical than any salesman will be and I will tell you the design faults in the car.

Philter25

08-03-2005, 03:39 PM

Thanks for all the input guys, I actually took the 3 home last night to drive it around for awhile. The only thing that is wierd about it is the sales guy drove it out of the lot and stalled it, but it is the automatic with the active shift, which lets you manually shift. So I think he just accidentally switched it (he had no idea about the car). I haven't been able to stall it yet, so I guess he was just an idiot. But so far, I love it. It only has the 2.0 (148 hp), but it is still fun to drive.

Well comparing the base 2.0L 3 to the base Civic and Corolla, there isnt much competition. The 3 will outdrive, out accelerate, out handle, and flat out out perform the Civic or Corolla.

The only thing it lacks against the other two is the longevity factor. The 3 hasnt been on the market long enough for people to hit 100k miles with it whereas we know the Civic and Corolla are durable. MPGwise the cars are very similar and pricewise like I stated before, you are going to get great rebates on the 3 once the 2006's come out.

If you can wait, I would do what I did and wait until the newer models come out. That will take 3k easily off your sticker price. Dont fall for all the employee pricing BS, the dealer is still making money off you so dont let him think you are robbing him by buying a car at employee pricing. Wait until he is desperate to move the car to make room for the newer models for your best deal. However if you are buying used, this makes no difference.

UltraDol-Fan

08-03-2005, 03:55 PM

The one that I am driving around now is a 2004 3i. It has almost all the options I want, though. It has the automatic, air, cruise, tilt, 6 disc cd, power windows and locks, 16" alloys. I think I can get it for a little under 14,000. We'll see.

Philter25

08-03-2005, 04:08 PM

The one that I am driving around now is a 2004 3i. It has almost all the options I want, though. It has the automatic, air, cruise, tilt, 6 disc cd, power windows and locks, 16" alloys. I think I can get it for a little under 14,000. We'll see.
By that price, im assuming its used? Whats the mileage. If its around or under 20k, I would say thats a good deal. The cheapest I have heard of a new one selling with those options was a 2005 3i ATX for 15.5k.

Also dont worry about all the tranny talk I posted in the above paragraphs. The 3 and the 6 do not share the same tranny. I think yours is a 4 speed, I have the 5 speed Jatco, and the new cars have Aisin trannys which are excellent compared to the Jatco.

UltraDol-Fan

08-03-2005, 04:14 PM

I like it a lot, and it is the best deal I have seen. I think I will probably get it.

Predaphin

08-06-2005, 01:59 PM

I own a 2005 Mazda 6....It's sick...I through some 18's on it and it looks sick! fun to drive.

Philter25

08-06-2005, 05:10 PM

I own a 2005 Mazda 6....It's sick...I through some 18's on it and it looks sick! fun to drive.

dude... join www.mazda6club.com (http://www.mazda6club.com)

Every single thing you could EVER want to know about the car. I have the same screename here as I do on there. They have the best deals for mods and rims and parts and everything. They also have meets and giveaways and most of the regulars on there can answer any single question you have about the car. From the stall speed to the stock torque converter, to what part number are my parklights.... they know it all.